No.10 tries to move on from EU rebellion October 25, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT tried to draw a line under a humiliating backbench rebellion over the EU yesterday, claiming it had already begun work on repatriating powers from Brussels back to the UK. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, was left politically wounded on Monday night after 81 of his backbenchers voted for a referendum on the EU in [...]
A million are now taught at academies, says Gove October 3, 2011 MORE than a million children are now taught in academy schools, education secretary Michael Gove will announce today. That means one in three pupils are taught in schools that are independent of the local authority, after the coalition government converted 1,000 to academies during its first year in office. “When we came to power there [...]
Britain’s universities need real reform October 30, 2011 IF Britain were a rational country, we would be spending far more time and energy seeking to improve the quality of our higher education to ensure that it can compete globally – and better to help young people prepare themselves for their lives and careers at a time when cognitive ability, creativity and knowledge are [...]
Number of maths-illiterate teenagers doubles in 30yrs September 11, 2011 THE number of GCSE students with almost no mathematical ability has doubled since the 1980s, with inflated grades hiding a growing problem among British teenagers. The level of knowledge required to get an A grade at GCSE now would only have resulted in a C grade 30 years ago, according to research submitted to the [...]
The UK is lagging behind despite growth in maths August 18, 2011 DESPITE the jump in students taking mathematics at A-Level, the UK risks falling further behind other nations unless the qualification becomes more popular, an education charity claims. “[A]s recent reports have highlighted, the UK still lags well behind its industrial competitors in terms of participation in mathematics education beyond GCSE level,” said Mathematics in Education [...]
Tories bereft of ideas when they need them most October 2, 2011 WHAT a difference a year makes. At the 2010 Tory conference, the party faithful were walking around in a blissful daze, barely able to contain their glee at being back in power after 13 years in the wilderness. The Office for Budget Responsibility, recently created by chancellor George Osborne, was forecasting economic growth of 2.6 [...]
The schools revolution should be above ideology September 7, 2011 A little revolution is quietly starting around the country this week – but its long-term effects will be profound. In the face of opposition from teachers’ unions and left wing campaigners, 24 “free schools” set up by charities, teachers or parents are opening their doors to pupils. They are state funded, but free from local [...]
It is time that business got its hands dirty – by helping rebuild the nation’s schools October 18, 2011 FOR business leaders there can be few, if any, more critical issues than the way that we educate the workforce of tomorrow. How the UK approaches education reform over the coming years will determine how successfully it closes the skills gap that threatens our future prosperity. So any good business leader knows that he or [...]
Massow’s back and helping you to save September 11, 2011 FAMED for founding the first company to provide mortgages and life insurance for people in HIV high-risk groups, Ivan Massow’s name used to be all over the papers in the 1990s. He sat on the sofa with Richard and Judy, on a panel on BBC’s Question Time, he was even flatmates with the now education [...]
The City needs to calculate the benefit of better maths August 7, 2011 MATHEMATICS is essential to the City, with A-level graduates in the subject better-equipped for logical thinking and statistical analysis – and likely to earn 10 per cent more on average than those without the qualification. And yet, in the advisory committee for mathematics education’s (ACME) report into the nation’s maths needs, published last month, evidence [...]